The jury is still out on vapes - on whether they help people to quit cigarettes and whether taxing them makes people smoke tobacco again.

Parliament's portfolio committee on health has called for more research on how the health risks of e-cigarettes and conventional smoking compare. This is because it wants to get a better grip on South Africa's relatively controversial new Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill.

If the Bill is passed, e-cigarettes will be seen as tobacco products, which will mean that vapers won't be able to puff in public spaces. Adverts for these e-devices will also be banned and the health minister will determine how the packaging and labelling of the products should look.

The committee has raised concerns that the legislation doesn't distinguish between e-cigarettes and more conventional tobacco products, and also doesn't consider claims that vapes could be used as tools to help smokers quit. These concerns were raised in a report on the Bill's public consultations.

In 2021, almost 30% of South Africans older than 15 used tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. That same year, about 42,000 people in the country died from tobacco-related diseases like cancer and heart and lung problems.

Having signed the World Health Organization's <a...